


Atop the Tallest Tower

by BloodyBacon



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Curses, Cute, Demon/Human Relationships, Dragons, Fairy Tale Elements, Gay, Good Demons, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:28:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodyBacon/pseuds/BloodyBacon
Summary: The demon living at the top of the tower at the edge of town makes a grave mistake, and goes on a journey with a young boy to try and repair the damage he's done.
Relationships: Clive/Luke Triton
Kudos: 3





	Atop the Tallest Tower

Clive burst through the doors of his room atop a high tower, throwing an unconscious boy onto his old cotton bed. He was panicked, throwing his arms out to cast flames into the lamps that were hanging on his walls. He needed to be able to see, oh god, what had he done? The villagers were going to kill him.

He panted … 

He himself was a wannabe druid, despite the wings on his back suggesting he was from the underground, or, hell, as the people on earth called it.

Dressed in peasant clothing, a bag of herbs at his side and a rusty sword, he thought maybe he could help this boy with a simple cold … but he ended up poisoning him. He just wanted to do something good, but now he was scrambling through his bookshelf to find something about healing poison inflicted by demons. 

He threw aside book after book, page of research after page of research before he finally found a book with a plant symbol on it. He turned his head towards the boy,who was laying on the bed in a cotton gown, his night clothes. Clive sighed, and stood, looking around his destroyed room …

“I can’t wake him up here” He thought, “He’ll freak out! And when he sees me, these wings, these teeth, he’ll scream …” 

But what else could he do? Maybe he deserved it, even if he was trying to do something nice, he still completely messed it up! He’d probably cursed this … sort of cute boy. Clive shook his head, right, whatever comes after this would be of his own doing! He should have stayed in hell where he belonged …

He flipped a few more pages before he finally landed on one that told him what to do. 

“When darkness taints what was once pure

Find the culprit and from there will come a cure” 

… _what the fuck does that mean?!_

He dropped the book, and put his hands over his face. Those old ancient bastards and their riddles! He needed to slow the poison … think, think- what does he know?

He started to pace the room, Looking over at the boy before back down to the wooden floor. His leather boots creaked against the old birch as he walked back and forth, back and forth, he stopped …

He knew that the poison was made from a demon trying to cast magic like a priest, it creates this impure substance, and when coming into contact with regular humans, it causes illness. When the poisoned area grows to be a certain size, the human passes out, and the poison takes over …

Clive sighed, scratching his head, maybe … maybe- if he shrank the boy’s entire body? That wasn’t priest magic, so it wouldn’t make it worse. He turned towards the boy, and took in a breath, picking up the book he’d dropped. He flipped through it, and raised a hand, starting to read …

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


…

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luke … opened his eyes, blinking a few times … it was dark, and he was next to a big fire, but the fire was behind glass? And what was on the floor- words? The boy stood, scratching his head, pushing his short hair out of his face. He could hear the sound of rain outside, was this a dream? Storms did tend to give him nightmares. He turned, and screamed, catching a glimpse of a large cat eye staring back at him. 

He fell back, hearing the sound of his own tiny voice barely even echoing in the room. The eye moved back, and Luke was able to see more clearly the face of a man with very unruly hair. He had teeth so big and sharp they stuck out of his mouth, not like any other human Luke had seen before. His eyes were ruby red, with slit pupils, they were captivating, but- terrifying. Luke stared at him, shaking as he laid there on the parchment ground. 

“P-please don’t freak out!” Clive said, holding out his pinkie. “I’m Clive- I’m sorry, I was just trying to help since you were sick and I- I messed it all up-” He said. Luke … held his hand out, gently tapping Clive’s finger with it. He flinched away … and when he realized it was safe, he stood. “W-where am I?” He asked, putting his hand on Clive’s finger. He tugged at it, and Clive let his hand lay down flat on the page. “W-we’re uh … at the top of the tower, at the edge .. of town-” He said. 

Luke looked up, “what?! We have to leave! Don’t you know a demon lives here?! If he sees us he’ll curse us both and we’ll die!” Luke frantically yelled … his tiny voice was so cute. Clive shook his head, “um … well- I-” He tried to think of a lie. He wasn’t as mean as everyone thought, well, not all the time, at least. He wanted to be good, but if Luke found out he was that demon he’d never trust him, and then something bad might happen to him. “I got rid of him! I-I uh- I took him down- yeah ..” Clive said. 

“ … but- you’re so skinny-” 

“I’m perfectly capable of fighting! I use magic so it doesn’t matter anyways! I’m strong in my head ..” 

“You couldn’t even heal a little cold! You poisoned me! And made me tiny! My name is Luke … You need to tell the priest in town I’m here, tell him that Luke is sick and he needs help!” Luke said, hitting Clive’s fingers. Clive lowered his head … “o-okay … look, I’m the demon that lives in this tower-” He said, “So I can’t go into town because of the barrier … your house is in a weak point where I was able to go- but- I-I can’t go past that-” Clive said. 

Luke just stared at him … before sitting down on the book. He looked all pouty suddenly, crossing his arms as he looked away from Clive. He was just a little boy, he didn’t seem to really get the gravity of what was going on. “I’m sorry I lied .. but- we can be friends, yeah? And I’ll find a way to heal you myself- deal?” 

“You can’t even cure a cold ..” Luke huffed, “and you’re a liar, and a demon!” 

“I-I’m a good demon!” 

“You poisoned me!”

“On accident! I swear! I wanna make it better- I just can’t go into town- I’m sorry, okay? I’ll do anything -” Clive said. Luke looked down at the book … and huffed, “so- mister- dragon- demon guy-” The boy stood, walking across the book. He jumped down, and squinted, seeing a bookshelf in the distance. “It’s Clive! You can call me Clive-” 

“I’m gonna call you Mule-” 

“M-Mule?” Clive asked, wondering if he somehow resembled a Mule to Luke.

“Yeah. Mule.” Luke said, “Do you have any maps? Maybe if we found a dragon’s tear we could heal me- and even make you human!” 

“A dragon’s tear?” Clive asked, watching Luke nod. 

“ uh … you mean the thing from the fairytale?”

“It’s not a fairytale! It’s real! My mom couldn’t have a baby until she found one- it’s how I was born!” 

“You were born from the suffering of underground creatures- makes sense-” 

“Quiet! Just find me a map and I’ll show you what she showed me! Honestly, I thought demons were supposed to be smart-” 

“I-I’m smart! Everyone gets things wrong-” 

“Whatever you say- Mule-” 

Clive clenched his fists … no- let it go- he was right. Clive messed this up, at least the boy was willing to work with him to get this whole thing fixed. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


…

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luke looked at the world below him as Clive flew to where he was supposed to be going. Everything was so pretty from so high up … but the wind. The boy was hiding in Clive’s herb bag, listening to the loud sound of his wings flapping as he moved like a missile towards his target. They were so far away, Luke hadn’t ever seen anything outside of where Clive’s tower and his own house was.

He was having a nice time, enjoying the view until Clive suddenly fell from the sky. Luke screamed, hiding in the pouch before everything slowed to a stop … 

“Sorry … i fell asleep-” Clive mumbled. Luke crawled out of the bag, and looked at him. They were in the middle of a forest, Clive was on the floor. 

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked, running up to his head, He peeked around, walking right in front of Clive’s face, seeing that he was probably just extremely tired. “Nothing … flying- for so long makes me tired-” Clive yawned, and closed his eyes, “you should get back in the bag- a snail might eat you-” He warned. Luke put his hands on his hips, “snails don’t eat people! Stupid!” Luke kicked at his face, but it barely felt like anything. “Come onnn- Clive! Don’t you want to help me?” He asked, getting a groan from Clive. Luke huffed, "Just as I thought, you're nothing but another monster that wants to eat people- I bet you're taking me somewhere to cook me up aren't you??" Luke accused him, mostly just trying to get him to move. 

“I do want to help you- I just- need- a rest- ten minutes-” Clive said. Luke sighed … and sat down on the ground, watching the wings on Clive’s back twitch around. “So … are you about to go to sleep?” Luke asked. Clive didn’t reply for a second, before groaning out a mess of words. 

“No … just gonna lay here”

“What if something comes?” 

“I’m a demon, I’ll kill it” 

“But …” Luke sighed, nuzzling him, “don’t hurt yourself- if you don’t get there then I’ll never get healed …” He said. Clive nodded, “I won’t let you down.” He said in a slightly less tired voice. Luke smiled, and leaned against his face, “Do you wanna hear a joke?” he asked, getting a nod. 

He giggled to himself a little, “what do clouds wear under their clothes?” 

“ … clouds wear clothes?”

“Just go with it!” Luke said, getting a low, muffled response from the other. 

“Alright- what?” 

“Thunderwear!” Luke said, laughing to himself … Clive smiled. His face just moved on it's own, he'd never smiled before, how weird, “dumb …” He said, sitting up as the small boy laid there, a proud smile on his face. “I made that one up on my own!” He proudly exclaimed. Clive nodded, “it was really cute- made me feel better- or- was that magic?” Clive asked. Luke smiled at Clive, “nope! Just a joke! You must have never had friends if a little joke makes you that happy-” 

“ …” Clive shrugged, “who wants to be friends with a demon ..” He said. Luke looked away, "I sure wouldn't ... But-" he mumbled, “well … I don’t have many friends either- I was always sick so people didn’t wanna get near me …” Luke said. “Because of that, I just stayed in my room thinking of jokes- d-do you wanna hear another one? Then we can be friends- and it’ll be fun!” Luke said. Clive nodded, “of course I wanna hear another one-” he said, holding his hand out. Luke seemed so happy to hear that, he crawled up into Clive's palm, and started telling him all kinds of things he'd thought of.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


…

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luke held onto Clive's hair as the demon made his way through the corridors of a dungeon. Luke wondered how he was getting through it all so easily, before he realized that Clive was a monster, and monsters don't eat monsters, so nothing in the dungeon would come after them.

Plus Luke was too small to be worth anything, and he was cursed, so he probably tasted horrible … 

Clive stopped in front of one of the dungeon's massive doors, and simply just pushed it open, something no human could do without setting off a million traps. The door had an orange symbol painted over it, which began to glow as it was split in half. The stone walls seemed to stretch into the skies, despite the fact that they were underground. The whole place echoed with the door's heavy stone scratching, and again with Clive's flat footsteps. The torches lit themselves as he stepped forward, headed towards a large trunk, which had been popped open, probably by a previous explorer. 

"Hey … if dungeons are really easy for you- then- why don't you clear the ones near the village? Take care of the traps and stuff- you know?" Luke asked. Clive … blushed a little bit, "I- I like watching the guards work- they look like real heroes when they're fighting monsters and if I got rid of the dungeons they'd be out less often …" he said. 

Luke nodded, he didn't really know what to make of that excuse, but it wasn't like they couldn't handle it on their own. 

"So what are we looking for?" Clive asked, getting an unsure noise from Luke. "This is where the map stops, so maybe the tear is in here?" The boy said. 

The only thing in the room was a chest with a red skull in it.. that, and what looked like a throne made out of piled up rocks.

Clive sighed, "I don't think there's anything in here besides this guy … or girl-" Clive held onto the skull, getting a sigh from Luke. "Well, what do we do now?" The boy asked, laying on top of Clive's head as he sat down on the throne. "I'm not sure … maybe we-" 

He was cut off by the sound of rumbling, rocks and pebbles began to crumble away as the ground in the room seemingly caved in. Clive moved back in the throne, holding onto the arms of the chair as he watched the whole thing happen. The torches on the sides of the wall opened up … and suddenly they were stuck. 

"Uh- oh-" Clive mumbled, standing up in the chair. He picked Luke from his head and put him into his side bag just to be safe. "Where are we going now? Down there?" Luke asked, poking his head out. 

"I guess so …" Clive mumbled, sliding down from the chair. He slowly began to scale the wall, gripping the jagged rocks and stones on his way down. As he began to lower into the catacombs below the dungeon, Luke started to realize he never brought any food with him. He tried to hold on though, this would only take a little while, right? Right- Clive dropped suddenly, and hit the floor on his feet, looking around the place …

It was- an ore mine? There were chunks of uncut gold, silver, what looked like some sort of precious gems and other metals laying around. "So … what now?" Luke asked. Clive shrugged, and started to walk down the gem encrusted hallway before the final torches of the dungeon lit up. 

One- two- three- they all ignited in a circle around a single entity, illuminating it from all sides, putting it on display almost. It was a massive, green, scaly dragon … with sharp teeth and claws, and a long body that stretched for miles without stopping, coiled up around itself in the way most springs did. 

Only, it didn't attack, or wake up … because monsters don't eat monsters. 

"I guess the map was right-" Clive said, walking over to the beast. He put his hand on it's nose, gently petting it. It opened its eyes, and exhaled, blowing smoke from it's nose and onto Clive. 

"W-woah-" Clive mumbled, "ah- h-hi there-!" He said, scratching the dragon's nose. 

**Mule ..**

"W-what?! My name isn't Mule! How did you know that?!" Clive hissed, flinching away when the dragon rose it's head. 

**I know lots of things, but you know very little. What is it you've come here for?**

"..." Clive pulled Luke out of his bag, and held the small boy out, "I messed up … is there any way to fix this?" He asked, feeling Luke's heart beating on his hand. Luke just stared up at the dragon, watching it as it lowered it's head, bringing one eye to his microscopic body.

"You have pretty eyes, miss dragon …" 

"Miss?" Clive asked, and Luke pointed to the eggs in the corner. Clive … blushed, "oh- _oh-_ " he mumbled, looking away. " _I thought those were bird eggs-_ " he mumbled. 

**It seems to me you currently possess all required knowledge to solve this problem. You have read the answer in text, what more could I do besides relay the message a second time?**

" … i- I don't get that message- it doesn't make sense to me-" Clive said, "I'm the one who caused this- so- i'm the medicine or something? I don't get it-" He said, and Luke nodded. It made no sense to him either ..

**Well, Mule-**

"My name is NOT Mule! It's Clive!"

**You should think deeper within the message, if you have the capability to cause this, then, under certain circumstances, isn't it reasonable you have the ability to counter it? Surely you haven't weakened since you cast the spell just a day ago**.

" … can- can't we have one of your tears?" Luke asked, "that should be able to fix me!"

**You may, if you can lure them out. Perhaps a story would be effective, I don't quite see that rusty sword ever touching me**

" … a story? A sad story?" Luke asked, watching the dragon lay back down. It nodded, and Luke thought to himself … "well … I guess I have a sad story-" Luke said, laying down against Clive's hand. 

Luke started, "Before I was born, my mom was a brave warrior lady who fought monsters with magic. She wasn't too strong, but she could lift anything with her powers, even the heaviest swords that nobody else could touch. The more she fought, the stronger she got- and she had a lot of fun while doing it too! She made friends, family, everyone loved her … even this one guy, named Clark- He was always trying to impress her with stuff, he'd go and get flowers and stuff to put on her armor, he'd carve little designs into the steel, he was a blacksmith-" Luke said with a smile on his face. "he could make just about any weapon … jewelry too, pretty necklaces, rings, crowns for the woman he loved- but he couldn't make a baby … they tried, even went to a priest, but- my mom just wasn't able to have babies. She cried a lot, thinking there was something wrong with her body, or her-" Luke sighed. "Or maybe she did something bad to deserve it- but she didn't give up! She went out searching for the one thing that could cure all illnesses, and make miracles happen! A dragon's tear- just one would be enough to give her the baby she wanted, and then she could have a family … the fight with the dragon was hard, and she almost died- the beast scratched her across the face, and took out one of her eyes, but she kept going despite it all, and eventually, she had the dragon at her will, and she demanded a tear .." Luke looked down. "She drank it- and the scars on her body were healed, she could feel warmth in her stomach- and from that moment- she knew that she'd gotten what she wanted so badly- with the power of love as her armor, she started a family- and had a boy! But it wasn't over- once she returned, she realized her husband was gone …" Luke looked up at the dragon. "Babies don't come from nowhere, a soul can't be moved around like that, it has to go somewhere willingly … and he wanted her to have a baby … a life for a life-" Luke smiled, "She cried and cried- but in the end- he would always be with her … and then nine months later I popped out! And she told me that story every night before i went to bed!" Luke said, "So- did you cry? Super sad, right?" 

"That was beautiful-" Clive mumbled, choking a little bit as tears fell down onto his hand. "I had no idea humans could be so strong- that's amazing- Luke-!" He said. Luke whined, "Your tears are getting all over me! But- is the dragon crying?" He looked over at it.

**It was a beautiful tale … but not at all sad, in fact, i'm grateful to be able to cause such happiness in our doomed timeline …**

"O-our timeline is doomed?" Clive asked, watching the dragon nod. 

**Yes, Mule, i'm afraid so … have you a story to share? If not, then it seems as though we really must spar. Be warned, I will not hold back- you will leave here with tears or you will not leave at all.**

"Oh … um- okay- I- I guess I have a story …" Clive said, taking in a breath. He sat down, and set Luke down on the sand.

"S-so- uh- once upon a time there was a baby, nobody knew where it came from, and- it was left inside of a small village in a basket … s-since nobody could figure out where it came from, everyone tried to figure out what to do with it … but everyone who adopted the baby had bad luck. Terrible things would happen to them, and anyone who touched it. As the baby grew up, it started to grow horns, and it's teeth got bigger. Eventually, people caught on to the fact that the baby wasn't normal, it wasn't like them, but it hadn't ever hurt anyone, and they didn't know what to do with it, so they built a tower …. It was a tall tower, at the edge of town, up somewhere safe. They filled it with books for the boy to read- and food- and a soft bed. It had pretty windows, but it was just a single room, on top of a large tower …" he looked down, playing in the sand, creating his own mini version of the tower. 

"And one day, they put the boy inside, and left him there- without ever telling him why. They didn't lock him inside, he was free to leave, but when he tried to go back into the village, he couldn't. There was a wall that only he could see, a dome around it that would hurt him if he got too close … it was a protective seal, used to keep away monsters away, and that's when he realized he didn't belong there, and he couldn't go back … but- he understood they didn't hate him, since they built him this place. They were doing the best they could, so he stayed up in the tower, and tossed out apple cores to let them know he was still alive in there. The seeds from those apples turned into trees over the years, they were carried away by animals and planted all around. An apple forest was fully grown around the city over a short time … people said it was because of the demon living in the tower-" Clive said, flicking away the sand. 

"People started to make rumors, they said that the demon created the forest to trap the people in the village, the forest was so dangerous that nobody could leave town without encountering monsters, and the guards had to work constantly to keep the town safe …" Clive leaned back, " people left apples as offerings to appease the demon, but- it didn't want anymore apples. They offered it other food, a basket of food was left every day, and dropped from the window to be refilled every night. The elders of the village knew the truth, but they didn't want to be blamed for what happened, so they kept quiet about it …" 

"The demon, now knowing that he was a demon, tried to change that. He tried to become human, nirmal, using magic that he learned from the books in the tower. He did nothing but read over the years, and … well, he didn't learn anything that could help him become human, so he tried to learn things to help him make peace with humans-"

"He tried getting close to the village, and defending it from other monsters, that was the first time he learned he could fly, when he picked up a minotaur and dropped it from high up, killing it before it could hurt anyone. He thought he'd done something good, but- people were afraid of him. Watching a monster kill another monster in such a way, it scared them, so he went back up to the tower, and tried to think of something else."

Luke was quiet, watching the pained expression on Clive's face. He had no idea that the demon everyone was so afraid of was really like this.

"He tried talking to them, to tell them he wasn't going to hurt anyone, that he didn't want to hurt anyone, and he just wanted to be with everyone again, like when he was little- he missed the people he called his family … but- the people told him that he was bad luck, and that if he didn't leave then they would have to kill him. They said he was selfish for wanting to put everyone in danger, even though … he just- wanted to be with them again …" Clive looked away. "but he left, and tried to come up with something else to show everyone he could be a good person- he tried to learn healing magic- and he tried using it on someone who was close enough to the edge of the border, a sick boy- who never seemed to get any better. He cast a spell, and something purple began to grow on the boy's stomach. His illness had been turned into a curse, a poison in his body, and at that point the demon accepted that no matter what he did, he wouldn't ever be good. It was impossible, because when Demon's try to act nice … that's- where curses come from …" Clive clenched his fists. "But- it wasn't all bad, he managed to stop the poison by making the boy super tiny- and for once it felt like he had a friend, even if the boy hated him for what he did- at least he had someone to talk to- after all those years of being alone- and shunned- and never really understanding why it was happening- he finally had someone around that showed him what it was like to smile, laugh- what it was like to be .. h-human-" Clive sniffled, "But because of what he did, that boy was going to die … the demon wouldn't give up though- he made a promise to himself, even if he couldn't ever fix what he did, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to anyone else. He'd keep fighting away monsters, he'd stay away from everyone, he'd keep them safe … because- they were his family- whether they knew it or not- he still cared about them- and he'd never-" 

Clive looked like he was breaking down, Luke didn't … know what to say. 

"He'd never hurt anyone on purpose- never- why doesn't anyone believe me?-" Clive said, before flinching as a bright light filled the room. 

**You are in great pain … i feel your sorrows, it has been a long fifteen years ...**

" …" Clive clenched his teeth, and looked down, "Oh god- Why am I crying … I'm such a baby-" he mumbled. Something fell down onto his lap, and the light was gone. Luke looked over at him, lowering his arms from his face once the light was gone. "... I-is that-" he asked, before looking at Clive, who was unable to stop crying. 

"I did it- i finally did something good-" He said. Luke stared at him … he walked up his leg, and crawled up his arm, getting onto his shoulder. "D-don't cry- Go ahead and heal me- then we can be best friends forever!" Luke said, hugging Clive's face. Clive looked down at the little bottle on his lap … he picked up the glowing blue container, and opened it, "Y-you'll really be friends with me?" He asked, "i hate being alone- so much- it's all i've ever wanted- I never understood why it had to be this way-" he said, sniffling. 

**Heal your friend, Clive- and get him home safe. His mother went through great trials to create him, she is worried sick**

"A-alright- you're right-" Clive said, getting up. "You're right-" he sighed, and picked Luke up, setting him down. 

"Hopefully you feel better after this- I'm really sorry- Luke …"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


…

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Luke held onto Clive, carrying him home as they flew above the forest … it was quiet, neither of them said anything, but Luke had a big smile on his face. He was listening to the sound of Clive's wings, and the sound of air rushing past them …

His face had been completely red ever since they left, Luke knew he was embarrassed about spilling that whole story- he just wasnt saying anything.

"So … do you feel better now?" Luke asked, and Clive huffed, "Dont make fun of me …" he said, "All that stuff was true, I've never told anyone before-" he said. 

"I think it was a nice story … and it has a happy ending too-" Luke said, "I'm not sick anymore! I've never felt this good before and it's all thanks to you! Once my mom finds out you healed me she'll kiss you!"

" … kiss?"

"Yeah! Getting excited?"

"What is that-"

"What's … what?"

"A- kiss-" 

"... You dont know what a kiss is?" Luke asked, and Clive shook his head. "I've seen the word a few times in books but i never knew what it meant- what is it?" He asked. Luke blinked … before smiling a little bit, "it's something you do to someone you love- or sometimes if you really like them- but you dont love them- you can kiss their cheek. It just means you put your lips on them- like this-" Luke said, connecting his mouth with Clive's. It only lasted a second, Clive's mouth tasted like fruit. 

When he pulled away, Clive seemed to be in a daze, like he still didn't get it, but it felt good. "Aah …" Clive mumbled, holding onto Luke.

"That feels weird-" He said. Luke chuckled, 

"Good weird, or bad weird?"

"Good … I think-"

**Author's Note:**

> And then clive brought luke home and had awkward first time sex with him, and figured out how to cum- n then he couldn't stop so Luke became his cum catcher >:3


End file.
